The constellations played their part already in the very early phase of the mythology of Arda in The Coming of the Elves and the Making of Kôr.[4]

There the Elves are first brought to Valinor during the captivity of Melko and Varda, in order to commemorate the coming of the Eldar, made new stars mingling the radiance of the Silver Tree that was stored in a basin with molten silver in Aulë's workshop. Of the constellations only the "Seven Stars" is mentioned, and its birth is ascribed either to Aulë or (in a separate note) to Varda.[4] Later, in The Tale of the Sun and the Moon there is a reference to Telimektar and in the end of the Tale the Moon is told to beg the "starry mariners flee before him and the constellate lamps go out".[5]

The development of Telimektar, from a Vala, son of Tulkas, to the constellation now known as Orion followed its own path, separate from the story of the making of the constellations until it was abandoned. Only in the latest versions of the Silmarillion, Telimektar was taken to the company of other constellations with another name and character, Menelmacar the Swordsman.

In the next phase, written between 1926-30,[6] the making of the stars was already contemporary with the awakening of the Elves, but the constellations were not mentioned. Only in The Quenta,[7] written in 1930, Varda made the stars before the coming of the Eldar and also creates The Great Bear, also mentioned in The Earliest Annals of Valinor,[8] at the Valian Year 2000 (later changed to 1900).

In The Later Annals of Valinor,[9] written between 1930 and the end of 1937, in the entry of Valian year 1900 Varda is told to have begun "the fashioning of the stars" and in V. Y. 1950 she made the Sickle of the Gods. No other constellations are mentioned.

Finally, in The Later Quenta Silmarillion I,[10] also written after the completion of The Lord of the Rings, all constellations now known are listed and the Elves awake just "when first Menelmakar strode up the sky". The printed text in the Silmarillion does not essentially deviate from this except in wording and omission of some details.